Norfolk Road Trip – Your Complete Guide

Motorhome Leisurely 2 Week Trip

Day 1

Visit the largest and best preserved monastic sites in the UK dating back to 1060. Enjoy a picnic lunch before moving to Sandringham Estate, to wander around the estate and buy some goodies from the shop there.  Drive on to ‘Sunny Hunny’ which is the start of the Norfolk Coast Road and also for bird watching at the RSPB’s Titchwell Marshes . Eat at the 1 Michelin starred The Neptune for a treat to start your road Trip.

• Castle Acre
• Sandringham
• Hunstanton

Day 2

A lovely 2 hour circular coastal walk from Brancaster Staithe harbour.  Have lunch at the wonderful White Horse pub. In July they have an oyster and champagne festival which I love, but not everyone likes oysters! Burnham Market is only 6 miles away – so a comfortable bike ride away. If you don’t like ‘bucket and spade’ seaside beaches, I would leave out day 11 and spend more time between days 2 & 5. Same goes if you drop a Norwich City day. Holkham Beach is where the Household Cavalry mounted regiment spend a summer camp. Seeing between 100 -200 horses galloping down the beach is spectacular.  

• Brancaster Staithe/Burnham Deepdale
• Burnham Market
• Holkham Hall

Day 3

The pretty harbour town which has just about managed to miss the ‘bucket and spade’ brigade. Seafood huts on the front selling locally caught fish, delicious ice-creams and fish and chips to eat. A good walk out to the spit. A very tidal beach – it is easy to get caught out – the sea comes in around you. It is designated an AONB – so make the most of the stunning walks again. You can catch a light steam railway ride to Walsingham, which is a tranquil 30 minutes of fun.

• Wells-next-the-Sea

Day 4

A stop at  the religious pilgrimage village of Little Walsingham, which is said to be Englands Nazareth. There is also  great farm shop to refresh the fridge with delicious goodies.  Head down to Blakeney, where you can crab fish off the quay, go on a boat ride to see the seals, walk out to the point and kayak in the outlets to the sea. 

• Little Walsingham
• Blakeney 

Day 5

Be sure to try Cookies Crab shack for lunch here. The food is super fresh, amazing value and they will even plate a gorgeous seafood meal up for you if you take a plate! It is bring your own drink – and it is in a conservatory. This whole area is about walking, salt marshes, cley marshes and wild life. Huge stoney beaches. To walk from Blakeney to Salthouse is only 4 miles, so you can see lots of these North Norfolk stops are close together. You could stay in one place for 3 or 4 nights with the use of bikes/legs! 

• Stiffkey (Stoo-key)
• Cley (Cli)
• Salthouse

Day 6

I love Holt. A great little shopping place, full of delightful shops and places to eat. Stop for a bite to eat at Byfords. Holt Country Park is great for a nice long walk. From Holt, you can catch an old steam train to Sheringham, a ride of about 25 minutes. If you get a roving ticket, you can hop on and off all day! It stops at Weybourne on the coast, where you could get off, have a picnic and walk part of the costal route to Sheringham in 1 hr  and another 30 minutes to West Runton for a lovely lobster and chips at Rocky Bottoms (summer only).

Day 7

You will come to Felbrigg first, which is a national trust house, over 500 acres of grounds with a beautiful house to visit and plenty of walks which are child friendly. Then on to Blickling Hall, another beautiful hall to visit with plenty of grounds. If you are lucky, you may time it with one of the many events that are held in the grounds. 

• Felbrigg 
• Blickling Hall

Day 8 & 9

The nex couple of days are messing about on the waters. Hire a boat for a half day self drive from Wroxham. Get tickets to join a river boat, or enjoy the wilder side of Hoveton, home to many different wildlife species. If you have kids – Wroxham Barns or Bewilderwood are great nearby options. You can easily base yourself here, as there is a train station in Wroxham, which will take you to Norwich in 30 minutes – right near the river to walk to the cathedral. The campsites are nicer! 

• Hoveton
• Wroxham (Boat Hire)

Day 10

Lovely sandy beaches, a lighthouse that is still standing, seals on Horsey Gap in the months of Nov – Jan and much quieter than the more easterly resorts. Great cliffside walks, sand dunes and sandy beaches. 

• Happisburgh
• Horsey Gap
• Winterton 

Day 11

These coastal towns are the real ‘kiss me quick’ old fashioned beach resorts. Yarmouth has a fun fair, a sea life centre and vast sandy beaches, Lowestoft beaches are the most easterly in the country and you get to see some fabulous sunrises. Gorleston is less ‘in your face’ with big beaches and sand dunes. All 3 are ‘bucket and spade’ resorts.

• Great Yarmouth
• Lowestoft
• Gorleston-on-Sea

Day 12 & 13

The jewel in the crown for East Anglia. Norwich is a medieval city, with castle, cathedral and cobbled streets and alleyways, full of boutique and independent shopping. Combine this with riverside walks, a pub and paddle trip and the Norwich Lanes. Benedicts restaurant is a great eatery – of Great British Menu fame. (You might find one day enough, in which case I would spend more time around days 1 & 2.)

• Norwich

Day 14

Wymondham is on the way to Thetford from Norwich and has a beautiful Abbey which I would recommend seeing along with a nice tea and cake before heading off to Thetford Forest. Thetford Forest has some gorgeous places to walk – or you could go karting, paint balling or swing through the trees at Go Ape. As peaceful or energetic as you want it to be.

• Thetford Forest (if you like biking or hiking)